Iconography and Style in Republican and Early Imperial Art (200 bce to 14 ce)

Abstract

This chapter identifies pertinent trends in the scholarship of late republican and early imperial Roman art, from the early second century bce to the end of the Augustan period. By looking at specific themes and case studies, such as mythological terracottas, historical reliefs, decorative marble statues from elite villas, so-called neoattic art, and honorific as well as funerary portraits, the essentially eclectic nature of artistic themes and styles across a range of media and materials is illustrated. Moreover, based upon these case studies, the chapter explores the relations between stylistic choice and aspects like class, society, and politics. From this it becomes clear that the systematic use of archaizing, classicizing, and Hellenistic styles in the late republican and early imperial period was deeply rooted in a vibrant community of commissioners and artists who acted under the influence of profound sociopolitical transformations in Rome, central Italy, and the wider Mediterranean.